The Headaches of Medical Bills....

 

Another one just arrived yesterday. 

This year has been rather stressful, and my knitting has been mostly on hold. I cannot find the energy or time to knit. The stress of having my husband out of work and without any income since January is not helping. Earlier this month, when I went to an Urgent Care with a chest pain and was refused to be seen, I had to go to ER instead. I was worried about the chest pain, not the medical bills at that time. 

Now the medical bills started arriving. Even though we are lucky to have a health insurance through my full-time job, it's a rather high deductible insurance and we have to pay most of the bills anyway. The unbelievable high medical bills here in the USA force people to create GoFundMe pages as they struggle to pay their regular bills and the medical bills as well, while sometimes they cannot even work. A good friend of mine is dealing with the uncertainty of his child's long recovery from a serious car accident as well as the devastating medical bills the prolonged hospital stay at an ICU will cost. I am truly at loss on how he must feel. Below is the link to my friend's child GoFundMe page. 

My friend's child GoFundMe Page

I still hope to host the toy mystery KAL sometimes soon. It might take a bit longer than I anticipated, but there are more than 300 other knitting pattern that I have created over the years, which you can either purchase or are available as free patterns. See all the places where you can buy my patterns on my website. Stana's Critters Etc

As always, I am grateful for any purchase you make as it helps me to continue to create one stitch at time. 

Thank you.

Rockefeller the Owl Ornament

 "He was so tremendously frightened by the sight of the owl sitting in a corner..."

                                                    Brother Grimms' Fairytales (The Owl)

Rockefeller is seventh knitting pattern in the fairy tale inspired series.  The sample pictured bellow was made last year, and the sample pictured above was made last month. A friend of mine named the owl Rockefeller after the tiny owl that was discovered on a Christmas tree at Rockefeller center in New York City. 

You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry, Payhip, or Lovecraft or by clicking on this button, which takes you to Ravelry website:

 

There are three more patterns to add to the collection and then the entire e-book will be available. 

You can have a sneak preview here on Ravelry:

Baba Yaga's House e-book

Thank you for visiting.

Apron

 "Gretel opened and shook out her apron..."

                                                         Brothers Grimm's Fairytales (Hansel and Gretel)

Apron is sixth knitting pattern in the fairytale inspired collection of knitting patterns. Just in time for baking season, to dress up any of your dolls or toys while they are helping in the kitchen. This apron fits dolls from 9” and up. The apron will also fit smaller size dolls as well. The Apron is 5” (13 cm) wide and 5.5” (14 cm) tall.

Suggested yarn: Worsted weight:
You will need less than 50 yards /46 meters of MC and 15 yards / 14 meters of CC.
The Apron is knit flat, with I-cord edge and string. The pocket is knit separately and sewn on.

Bellow is picture of my two models: Baba Yaga and Frances.

 

You can purchase this pattern on Ravelry, Payhip, Lovecraft or by clicking on this button which will take you to Ravelry website:

The previous posts that are connected to the fairytale series and patterns are:

The beginning

Winter trees

Frances

Cat Pin Cushion

Witch's Hat

Frog Bag

Broomstick

The middle part of a journey

Fox Pin Cushion

Thank you for visiting, and come back for the next adventure on this fairytales inspired journey.

Fox Pin Cushion

 "Well, I'm going to help you," said the fox.

                                            Brothers Grimm's fairytales  (The Fox and the Horse)

Fox Pin Cushion if the fifth pattern in the fairytale inspired series of knitting patterns published over the three months of October, November and December of 2020.  The entire e-book will be available in December. In the meantime you can follow the little breadcrumbs of previous posts, knitting patterns and  pictures. 

When I started to work on this project in November 2019 I started with the idea of a gingerbread house. But there are so many of knitting patterns for gingerbread house, so I added a little twist. What if the ginger bread house is not an actual gingerbread house but rather another famous house from fairytales. And so the journey started with a sketch and drawings and looking through my yarn stash for yarn to use up. In some ways this entire e-book is filled with great stash busting knitting projects. 

 This fox pin cushion uses yarn I had left from a knitting pattern  Fox Pillow, which was originally published on Lovecraft website, earlier this year. 

You can purchase this Fox Pin Cushion patterns on Ravelry, Lovecraft (see the link on the right side of the full web version if you are on mobile phone), or Payhip. Or use the buy button bellow which will take you to the Ravelry:

The crumbs left behind to follow the journey into the fairytales world:

The Beginning

Winter trees

Frances

Cat Pin Cushion

Witch's hat

Frog Bag

Broomstick

The middle part of a journey

Thank you for visiting and be safe until the next time.....

 

The middle part of a journey....

 

Today is a very important election day in the USA. The outcome of this election day will affect me and everyone else on this planet in some way or another. I am trying to be optimistic and believe in goodness, human decency, truth, and kindness, but our human history is convincing me otherwise. I have to admit I am scared of what will happen. Watching the news as stores are boarding up their windows in anticipation of violence and riots is rather depressing. The pandemic that we have been living through for the past several months is raging and seems unstoppable. I cannot help but think of my family and their experiences throughout their lives. My grandmother was one of approximately twelve millions of people who were forced labor during the World War II. She has survived and met my grandfather during that time. My mother had lived through the military occupation of our country and watched the army stay for 21 years while trying to raise her family. I guess my life has been rather easier in comparison. At the time when they were young they lived through forced labor and occupation, while I lived through the fall of Berlin Wall and Velvet Revolution. I have experienced the optimism and euphoria of freedom after the cold war. It kinds of make me wonder what my child will experience and I truly hope that there is a bright future for all of us. 

In some way today reminds me of the middle part of a fairytale. The time of tryout and testing, the time when the hero or heroine has to do the required task to reach the goal and overcome the villain. Unlike fairytales when we know the outcome, when we know that the good prevails and the villains are punished, in the real world we are not guaranteed that outcome. We might not have the happy forever fairytale ending. But we sure must try and hope for the best. 

On my part I will continue the journey and hope. 

As for my fairytale inspired knitting journey, you can see the little bread crumbs I left behind and follow...

The beginning

Winter Trees

Frances

Cat Pin Cushion

Witch's Hat

Frog Bag

Broomstick

Baking

And I am off to bake and knit to occupy my mind and hands until next time...

September 2020 - Knitting Patterns

 Somehow this month has been an amazing time for me as a knitwear designer. I am feeling like a real knitwear designer with work published by several third parties. See the list and pictures at the end of this blog post.

First let's start with a little bit of history.

This is my first finished knitting project that I remember. I recall that I did a lot of crochet projects prior to this sweater, but this is my first for so many things. I remember the trip to formal East Germany, a town now called Chemnitz. At that time it was named Karl-Marx-Stadt. We went to a Department Store and I picked up the yarn for this sweater and another sweater. I created the pattern, though I didn't know that it was a pattern that I created. I just draw a picture and calculated the number of stitches and rows based on a small swatch that I knitted. I also remember that I did not know how to cast on. My mom helped me by casting on the stitches. I knitted the sweater in four pieces, in three colors using an intarsia technique. At that time I did not know that you need to wrap the yarn around each other. This actually created a small holes around the V shape where the yarn was changing. These small holes were not on the sleeves. By then I learned that the yarn has to be wrapped around each other. When I was wearing the sweater people were asking me how did I created the pattern of holes perfectly placed along the color change on front and back of the sweater. My grandmother helped me to sew the finished pieces and knitted the crew neck edge around the neck opening. I loved that sweater and was wearing it a lot. I do not have it anymore. I do not know what have happened to the sweater. We might have unravel it to use the yarn again. This is how my love for knitting started. 

After years of knitting, in 2011 I tiptoed into a knitting pattern writing.

My first published knitting pattern was for the Apples in May 2011. The link to this free pattern is here:

Apples

My first knitting pattern published by a third party was for Snowballs, in January 2012. The pattern was originally published by Petite Purls, In Issue 11, Winter. It is available as a free pattern. Link here:

Snowballs

And so it continued for the past nine years. Creating, sketching, knitting samples, making notes, writing patterns, editing, sending out my ideas to submission calls and more of knitting, creating, editing, and writing. As of today I have either independently or through a third parties published 279 patterns.

The list of my Knitting Patterns on my blog or on Ravelry with pictures My Knitting Patterns.

This month eight of my knitting patterns were published.

Independent work is Meg and School of Fish

In October Issue of I Like Knitting Magazine are: 

Pawsome-Hat  to complete the Paw-some Dog Cowl and Human Scarf 

A set of Spotted Around Hat and Spotted Around Scarf

and Harvest Poncho

All the photos of these four patterns are by I Like Knitting

Brunelli Wrap was published in October Issue of Knotions Magazine.

photo by Kelli Nuss for Knotions Magazine. 

Misty Cowl was published by Knitpicks in the new textured collection titled Pathways. 

photo by Knitpicks.

Cuddly Cat Pillow is the last pattern that was published by Interweave Knits in their Gifts 2020 Issue magazine.

photo by Interweave Knits 

I hope to continue with creating more knitting patterns in the future for some time.

As for the rest of this year, I have an e-book project, that I started to work on last winter and slowly it started to take shape over the months of pandemic and staying home. This collection of small knitting projects will be released over the next three months. These small projects are all using small amount of yarn that I had home from a various previous knitting projects. They are all a fantastic, funky, fast and instant gratification giftable items for almost everyone. 

More on this project is coming up over the next three months. Just to give you a little sneak preview... if you look closely into my knitting bag in this picture, few of those critters are peaking out.

Thank you for reading and for visiting.

Express yourself

This morning I have received an email from @lovecraftscom where crafters and independent designers are asked to create a blog post or Instagram post and tell about why they create. I have entered a similar competition organized by Lovecraft last fall. You can read my blog post here.
I have not won the blogger of the year at that time, but my entry was inspiring enough that Lovecraft has decided to feature a little post about me based on this entry from last year.
You can see my blog post about it here or read the article on Lovecraft website here.

Since I wrote that blog post nothing has really changed. I still love to create for the simple joy it brings me. Crafting has helped me to go through the pandemic and stay at home orders. I have managed to let go of everything that is going on in the world and for a few brief moments I felt calm and peaceful concentrating on one stitch at time.

Voyager Sweater

Being an independent knitwear designer have helped me through the difficult time when I was furloughed from my work. Even though the money I get from my knitwear design business does not cover my living expenses, it allowed me to feel as if I have contributed something into our family budget, however small amount it is.  I hope to expand and earn more as the time goes by.

Frances

If I were to win this competition by Lovecrafts I would use the money towards this new e-book, and hopefully an actual printed book project that I started to work on late last year. At first it was going to be just a few knitting patterns that are collection of whimsical and joyful ideas, inspired by fairytales and woodland creatures. An example of the patterns that would be in this collection is Frances.
This week I came with an idea to include in the collection few other things, like recipes, pictures and such. Like the dandelion honey, a sweet childhood memory of mine. Pictured bellow.

Dandelion Honey

Thank you for reading and visiting. It means the world to me, and it have helped to put food on our table these past few months.

Knitting Pattern for Frances

Fox family

During the pandemic and stay at home period I had time on my hands. Under the normal circumstances I would not be able to observe the fox family that moved into the woods across the street. It felt special to be able to see them so close, yet afar as the fox family went about their daily lives, the baby foxes playing with each other, the parents running around trying to feed their babies. As I was watching them I started to think about the momma fox how busy she must be and it lead to this playful idea of mine to create a momma fox and a baby fox. The momma fox definitively needed an apron and some snack food to keep her babies fed.

Frances

The knitting pattern for Frances has been test knitted and edited by Midnight Purl.

You can purchase the pattern in my Ravelry store, Designer page

on Lovecraft 

Frances

or by clicking on this button:

Frances

Work in progress

Another week went by.
I stayed at home. I baked. I cooked. I cleaned. I did laundry. I cooked. I cleaned. I cooked more. I baked. I read. I played with yarn and knitted. I took the dog for a walk. I took the dog for another walk. I talked to my mom on Skype. I took a lot of pictures, of nature, garden, our dog, knitting.  Etc, etc.

Baking week VIII

Pictured are Linzer cookies, Ginger Bread, Sourdough Bread, Panna Cotta, Sourdough Bread, Dandelion Honey, Sourdough bread, Sourdough Bread, Sourdough Bread. 
In some ways it might seem like a very limited entertainment, but on the other hand I have ventured into a new territory of sourdough baking. I am at the beginning of the journey and I continue to learn each time I try to make and bake a loaf of bread.  As you can see in my collage of baking I have baked quite a few loafs of bread. Each was slightly different and I learned something each time I baked the bread.

Dandelion Honey

I also made Dandelion honey. I remember it as a special treat my mom and grandmother used to make in the spring. It feels as if each jar is filled with childhood memories, sweet and tender.
Under the normal circumstances, I would never be able to make this. It is time consuming. Collecting the dandelions (carefully picked up flower heads, with enough behind to leave for the insect to feed on), simmering in water, allowing the aroma and flavors to intensify.

In my knitting world, the first clue for Leonard and Lola was released. Second clue is coming tomorrow. See my previous post Leonard and Lola, toy mystery KAL how to join the fun.

Leonard and Lola, yarn

We also have a new neighbor. Somewhere in the woods across the street lives a fox family. I keep seeing her and her four babies. It is amazing to watch them play and frolic around, while their momma is out hunting for food. I named her Frances. I managed to capture the fox babies on a video playing around. Even though I keep seeing them almost daily, my phone camera is not good enough to capture a decent close up image of them.  Bellow see the picture I took during one of my walks with the dog.

Fox babies

During these walks, I imagine that Frances is a single mom, busy running around trying to feed her babies. I am not sure if the father is around or what have happened, but this is what I imagine Frances might look like....

Frances and her baby 

And here is their encounter with our dog...

Frances, her baby, and T-Bone

 In the real life their encounter would be rather different, and I am making sure that they only see each other from far away.

I will spend this coming week working on the knitting pattern and after the test knitting, and TE is completed the pattern will be available.

Thank you for visiting.

Work in Progress and new toy mystery KAL

Another week went by. I am not sure anymore how long I have been at home, not going to my work and not receiving a real paycheck. I am not complaining. We are lucky, so far we are healthy and my husband continues to receive his paycheck and our bills are covered so far. Life is good.
According to my weekly baking pictures I have been baking six weeks already. This week was a rather adventurous. I tried for the first time to make croissants from scratch. It was a success. I also baked brioche bread. I used the middle class brioche recipe from the book  The Bread Baker's Apprentice, by Peter Reinhart. And of course I returned to some of my favorite comfort foods and desserts.

Pictured are: Salmon Cakes, Croissants, Brioche Bread and Buns, Bread (though this time it baked in a funny shape, mushrooms?), my mom's Crepe's recipe, Fruit Salad (it is a dessert though not baked), Apple Strudel, Chocolate filled Croissants, Brownies.

baking week VI

In the knitting world I managed to finish a work for a third party. I cannot post pictures until after the publication goes live, but I really enjoyed knitting this project.
I also made the Mask Buddy to help with wearing the face mask and I started to work on our next toy mystery KAL. Later this week I will post more details in my Ravelry Group and add the pattern to Ravelry. I have named them Leonard and Lola, but I might change my mind.  Pictured  is the yarn I am using for my Leonard and Lola.

May Toy Mystery KAL

Mask Buddies

Across the street we have a new family. Fox mama and her cubs are living somewhere in this small piece of wood that is surrounded by houses and we are so lucky to be able to see the fox family from time to time.
I am trying to capture the little foxes on my camera, but my phone camera is not good enough to zoom in and my real camera still uses film and I have not use the camera in a long time, and it seems to be harder and harder to actually find a place where the films are still developed.  As you can see foxes are one of my favorite animals to use in my knitting patterns.

Thank you for visiting.

Work in progress...

Fox Pillow

Over the past week I have been taking pictures of my dog with the Fox pillow. Apparently it is his favorite pillow to sleep on.  It is quite entertaining to watch him sleep. And yeas I have been stuck in the house for about a month, so my entertainment is rather limited.....but I am not complaining. We are still alive, and breathing. Life is good.

Fox Pillow 

I also baked and cooked a lot. Normally I don't have that much time to cook or bake, but life is rather strange these days and I do enjoy the process of baking, or cooking. Though I dislike to clean up all those dishes afterwards. Pictured here are: Apple Strudel, Carrot Cake (we have a birthday to celebrate), potato pancakes, cinnamon buns with maple frosting, bread, Bundt cake, my mom's version of crepes, bread (I baked it twice this week).

week of baking III

Also, there is a storm coming our way and we might loose power and internet for few days. I guess we might be camping at home for our spring break.  If we loose the power I will not be able to update the second clue on time, therefore I have updated the pattern earlier.
For a moment we already lost the power. It came back, but who knows for how long. Stay safe, and have fun knitting.

T-Bone working on clue 1 :)

Thank you for visiting.